The Heritage Traveller - Secret Places

Travel, History, and exploring British Heritage

In our 'Secret Places' blog I try to let you in on some lesser-known delights that I have enjoyed in different areas of the country, focussing for the most part on historic and scenic places. You may not have heard of these Secret Places, but I can recommend them from personal experience.

I've just returned from three glorious weeks exploring Sutherland and Wester Ross. There's lots to share with Britain Express readers - sheesh, I took over 6,000 photos! But one thing I couldn't wait to share is my vote for the most scenic drive in Britain. I've had the pleasure of visiting almost every corner of the country over the past few years, but the circular route around the Applecross peninsula of Wester Ross is arguably the most beautiful drive I've ever had the fun of exploring.

I suppose you could call all Scottish islands a Secret Place, but there are some more 'secret' than others. While storied isles like Skye, Mull, and Iona draw visitors year after year, a few lesser known jewels in the sea slumber on, undiscovered and blissfully ignored by both homegrown and overseas visitors. Well, in the interests of promoting some of the places I have been and onjoyed over the past few years, here are a few of my 'secret places' among Scottish isl;ands. I'll include the usual sort of disclaimers; I can only vouch for places I've actually visited, so there may be fabulous islands that don't make this short list.

In a departure from the usual format of my 'Secret Places' posts, I'm going to include the entire Yorkshire Wolds region as a Secret Place. When most people think of Yorkshire they might bring to mind York itself, or the Yorkshire Dales, and Herriot Country, or perhaps the North York Moors, or even the picturesque coastline, with Robin Hoods Bay and Whitby.

There are so many hidden heritage delights in Norfolk that its hard to choose only 5 for this list! Everywhere you look there are delicious ancient churches, castles, and stately homes (not to mention the beauty of the Norfolk Broads). After mauch pulling of hair and inner anguish, helped by several cups of morning coffee, here's a list of secret places in Norfolk that I've enjoyed visiting.

Almost the entire county of Rutland could be listed as a 'secret place', but I've avoided listing popular destinations like Oakham Castle, Barnsdale Gardens, and Normanton church museum even though they would be on my ordinary list of top places to see in the county. Hmm ... looks like 4 of these secret places are churches, well, that's because Rutland is blessed with some fantastic historic churches!

The next in my look at 'Secret Places' in Britain takes in the Cotswolds region. This is where the Britain Express family make our home, and we've spent many happy hours exploring the region. There are so many interesting historic places to see that its hard to limit myself to just five, so consider this a first installment, with more to follow!

The Harvard Inn is set in the idyllic village of Stock Essex. The Harvard is a restaurant and wine bar with luxury accommodation. Dating back to the 15th Century the building is a central part … more >>